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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28070019">And to all, A Merry Exy-Mas!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystrana/pseuds/Mystrana'>Mystrana</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>All For The Game - Nora Sakavic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas Sweaters, F/M, Fluff, Foxes holiday party, Humor, Illustrated, M/M, a two person exy-themed Christmas sweater, background Matt/Dan - Freeform, background aaron/katelyn, exy-themed christmas sweaters, gentle sweet kisses, image, with just one person in it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:22:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,286</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28070019</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystrana/pseuds/Mystrana</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Foxes help Neil celebrate the holiday season with a party at the cousins' house, and they go all out with a Christmas sweater competition. Includes gratuitous descriptions of lots of exy-themed holiday sweaters, plus a bonus image of Andrew and Neil in a two person holiday sweater. Happy holidays!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>AFTG Exchange Winter 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>And to all, A Merry Exy-Mas!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/wishbonetea/gifts">wishbonetea</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was created for the AFTG Winter Exchange! I loved the prompt I received, and it was a pleasure to write and draw. I hope everyone enjoys it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Andrew pulled up to the curb of the cousin’s house and parked. Next to him, Neil tilted his head back to take it all in. Colorful lights were strung across the doorway, and little white lights like icicles decorated the eaves. Someone had stuck large candy cane lights along the driveway and sidewalk, and a giant, inflatable reindeer dominated the yard. </p>
<p>Nicky answered the door with a smile and ushered them inside. </p>
<p>“I’m impressed,” Neil told Nicky, gesturing to the yard while Andrew went ahead to the kitchen with bags full of liquor.</p>
<p>Nicky shook his head. “This was all Allison and Dan. They asked if they could come early and ‘make things festive.’” He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial stage whisper. “It was almost like they knew that we didn’t even have a tree.”</p>
<p>“We had a tree,” Aaron said from across the room. He gestured to the corner of the dining room, where the tiniest little pine stood balanced against the wall, its sad little branches drooping under the weight of three ornaments. </p>
<p>Katelyn gave the tree a little pat, and a shower of needles dropped to the floor.</p>
<p>“You totally have a tree,” Neil agreed. It was way better than any of the Christmas trees he’d had on the run for the last eight years. </p>
<p>He stopped short when he passed through the front room to the living room, where Renee was helping Dan drape a final layer of glittering white tinsel around a huge pine tree. The top of the tree was a scant inch away from the ceiling. “They got a <em> tree </em>, though.”</p>
<p>“Welcome to the fun,” Dan called, looping the last bit of tinsel behind a branch. She stepped back to check her work and glanced at Neil’s t-shirt. “You better have a sweater ready for later!”</p>
<p>“Andrew used it to wrap up the liquor, so I’ll change in a few,” Neil assured her. “The tree looks really nice.”</p>
<p>“Thanks,” said Allison. “I cannot believe the monsters were going to let you celebrate your first real Christmas with a branch and call that a tree.”</p>
<p>“The true spirit of Christmas is not in the size of the tree, but in the camaraderie and alcohol,” Nicky intoned from behind them with a mock serious glare. His eyes were sparkling with mirth and perhaps a little of the aforementioned alcohol.</p>
<p>“We are making up for a lifetime of trees,” Matt said as he came into the living room with a box of ornaments. He was already wearing a red and white santa hat, and had a bright blue sweater on. Neil grinned when he saw it; the front of the sweater had gingerbread cookies playing Exy on a court lit up with Christmas lights. </p>
<p>“I don’t know how I missed that sweater in Exites,” Neil said. “Nice find.”</p>
<p>“It was an online exclusive. I figured Kevin would be proud of me for the sheer single-mindedness of it,” Matt confided with a grin. “And it’s cute enough that I might get Renee’s vote, securing my victory in the first annual Foxes Christmas Sweater competition.” </p>
<p>“A bold plan,” Dan agreed. She reached down into one of the bags piled by the corner of the tree, and pulled out her own sweater. “But will it stand up to the force of reindeers practicing flying on the plexiglass top of the court?” She put the sweater on and sure enough, a group of reindeer were jumping off the top of the decorated exy court, hovering in the air. One of the reindeer was climbing back on top to try again.  </p>
<p>“Tough competition,” Allison declared, looking at each sweater. “May the best Fox win.”</p>
<p>“Where's your sweater?” Matt asked, glancing around Dan as if he could see in Allison’s bag.</p>
<p>“Too soon to reveal,” Allison replied with a smile and a wink. “Gotta let the competition fall into a false sense of security before I come in and smoke you all.”</p>
<p>Neil helped himself to a candy cane from the tree and left them to their friendly jabs, heading towards the kitchen to see how Andrew was faring with the liquor. </p>
<p>Andrew was mixing up a bowl of deep red punch next to another bowl full of eggnog. When Neil came in, Andrew looked up and offered him a cup of the punch. Neil took it, but set it down almost immediately in favor of sneaking a kiss while no one else was in the room. Andrew tasted like eggnog, and he slid a hand on the small of Neil's back, bringing him in close for a short but nutmeg-y kiss.</p>
<p>“So, everyone has some pretty slamming sweaters so far,” Neil reported, picking back up his cup and trying an experimental sip. “I’m rethinking our chances.” The punch was stronger than it had any right to be, and Neil put it on the counter again, content with just the taste. </p>
<p>“Maybe your chances,” Andrew said. </p>
<p>"What are you talking about? Didn't we get the-" </p>
<p>Andrew made a quick slash in the air and glared behind Neil, who turned to see Kevin in the kitchen.</p>
<p>"What's stronger?" Kevin asked in lieu of a greeting, and Neil handed him a cup of the punch.</p>
<p>Kevin downed it in two gulps, refilled his cup and let out a heavy sigh.</p>
<p>“Did Thea stand him up?” Neil asked Andrew, not bothering to keep his voice low.</p>
<p>“Worse,” Kevin said. “They rescheduled tonight’s Exy match.”</p>
<p>“Tough break, man.” Neil held out his hand and considered patting Kevin’s back. He was 50/50 on whether Kevin would appreciate it or not. Andrew was watching the scene with mild interest, so Neil reached over and gave Kevin three pats on the back. “We’ll make it through. Together?”</p>
<p>Kevin didn’t register the back pats as he downed his second cup of punch, got a third, and headed back out towards the living room. “Maybe they’ll show a good replay.”</p>
<p>“Don’t forget to put on your sweater,” Neil called after him. </p>
<p>If Kevin replied, Neil didn’t hear it, so he took it as an affirmative. “If you’re done mixing, we should get into our sweater!”</p>
<p>Andrew stared. “I never agreed to it.”</p>
<p>Neil ran through his memories, the two of them shopping for the party earlier in the week. He had picked up a giant sweater, and shown it to Andrew. What had Andrew said when he asked if he would wear it? </p>
<p>“Fuck,” Neil said finally. “I only asked if you thought it was a good sweater, didn’t I?”</p>
<p>Andrew nodded as he sipped at his eggnog. </p>
<p>“I can’t believe I played myself like that.”</p>
<p>Andrew leaned in and gave Neil a consolation kiss right as Allison’s voice came from the other room. “Time for the great sweater reveal! Everyone in sweaters to the living room in the next five minutes!”</p>
<p>Seven minutes later, the Foxes stood gathered in the living room, everyone at least ten percent more festive than they had been before. Dan and Matt weren’t the only ones who had gone the Exy route; Neil saw almost every Christmas sweater from Exites represented. </p>
<p>Renee’s sweater had an Exy goal decorated for Christmas with a tree; the ornaments on the tree were actual tiny Exy balls, racquets, and fox prints. “It was customizable!” she said as she spun around once to show it off.</p>
<p>Nicky’s sweater was the loudest, literally. His had a simple tree, decorated with all sorts of rainbow colored ornaments. One of the presents at the bottom of the tree played a Christmas carol when he pressed the bow.</p>
<p>Allison’s was truly impressive, made of silver and white puffy threads that gave the whole sweater a gorgeous, snowy look. Silver ribbon twisted and turned through the front to read “Happy Holidays!” and tiny, shiny bells chimed throughout. That one probably didn’t come from Exites.</p>
<p>Aaron and Katelyn had gotten the cute little matching red and green sweaters from the one rack of matching couples options; Aaron’s had one half of an Exy racquet tied with mistletoe and the word, “Merry.” Katelyn’s had the other half of the racquet, with garlands wrapped around it and the word “Exy-Mas!”</p>
<p>Kevin shook his head, because his very simple sweater only said, “Merry Exy-Mas” across the front in a cross stitch font. </p>
<p>“Uh, Neil?” Matt asked. “What’s up with your sweater?”</p>
<p>“I know you like to wear oversized clothes,” Nicky agreed, “but that seems a little bit much?”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Neil said, holding up the extra half of his sweater. The large swatch of fabric had a ridiculous amount of green and red, featured two exy racquets and goals, and proudly declared ‘We like to score on each other!’ Neil gave his best smile. “It’s one of those sweaters for two people. But I didn’t clarify it with the second person, so here I am.”</p>
<p>Andrew, to his credit, was as festive as he would ever be, wearing a black sweater with embroidered golden skull ornaments.</p>
<p>“Alright,” Dan said, passing out slips of paper. Matt was close behind with a basket of pens. “One vote per person, you can pick your favorite and a runner up. Fold it up and into the basket when you’re done. Winner gets the awesome mystery present under the tree!”</p>
<p>Neil followed Dan’s gaze to a large box wrapped in colorful paper. The paper was, of course, printed with tiny exy racquets and ribbon cascaded down the sides. He looked from sweater to sweater, considering who he wanted to vote for before his eyes landed on Andrew. He grinned as he filled out his paper slip. How could he not vote for golden skulls? Andrew was probably a shoo-in to win. </p>
<p>Neil pushed the sleeve of his too-roomy sweater back up, trying to keep his hand from getting covered. It was a losing fight, because the sleeve was placed a whole body width away. Neil gave up and wrote his second place pick with his other hand.</p>
<p>After all the votes had been placed, Dan grabbed them to tabulate the results. Matt sat down at the table with a piece of paper and recorded them as she read them out.</p>
<p>By the third slip, it was becoming obvious everyone had voted for their favorite <em> person </em> rather than the sweater. Probably. Neil couldn’t call anyone out on it lest they throw stones as his very fragile glass house.</p>
<p>Dan laughed when she got to the last slip and the vote read, “I pick whoever hasn’t gotten a vote,” in what Neil imagined was Renee’s handwriting. </p>
<p>Which put the vote total on everyone getting exactly one vote.</p>
<p>“Luckily,” Allison said, grabbing the giant present from under the tree, “I anticipated shenanigans as us Foxes never seem to be able to do things the ‘right’ way.” She smiled, offering the top of the box to Renee to pull the ribbon loose. “There’s something for everyone in here.”</p>
<p>Nicky laughed and whooped, and helped pass out the presents to everyone. Even Aaron was smiling, though that was probably because he and Katelyn were standing under some mistletoe and kissing.</p>
<p>Neil made his way to Andrew’s side, just close enough to hear Andrew say under his breath, “You look ridiculous in that sweater.”</p>
<p>“You could help me look much less ridiculous,” Neil protested with a smile. </p>
<p>“Have you even looked at a single picture of two people in those sweaters?” Andrew wagged his finger at Neil. “There is no outcome tonight where you wouldn’t look ridiculous. If I choose to stay above that ridiculousness, well…” Andrew brushed off the front of his sweater, returning Neil’s smile with a smirk, “Then so be it.”</p>
<p>Neil accepted his present from Nicky, a little box wrapped with a piece of ribbon. He waved Andrew’s comment off and focused on sliding off the ribbon. When he opened the box, he found a key chain with three charms; an Exy racquet, an Exy ball, and a Fox footprint. He looked up to see his teammates grinning at him and waiting for his reaction.</p>
<p>“Merry Christmas, Neil!” Matt called. “Isn’t this way better than lying to us about being with your uncle?”</p>
<p>There was still a spot on the side of his ribs that ached if Neil thought too much about his time in the Nest, but the love and warmth of being with his team washed over him, and he nodded. “I was fine, though.”</p>
<p>“New Year’s resolution,” called Kevin from his spot on the couch where he’d managed to find a highlight reel of Exy games on the sports channel. “If you ever say the words ‘I’m fine,’ again, I’m going to tell Dan to start you as a backliner for the rest of eternity.”</p>
<p>Neil laughed, a tad bit hysterically. </p>
<p>“It would be easier to keep an eye on you if you were closer to the goal,” Andrew mused, loud enough for only Neil to hear.</p>
<p>“Don’t you dare,” Neil said. “I’ll make you wear the sweater.” He grabbed the hem of the sweater, and started pulling it towards Andrew.</p>
<p>“Have you ever wondered how fast a cheaply made novelty sweater can be cut into ribbons?” Andrew asked as if he was merely commenting on the weather.</p>
<p>“Everyone's a critic,” Neil groaned. He dropped the hem and went back to drowning in too much sweater as the Foxes spent the rest of the afternoon drinking and cooking together, enjoying each other’s company and ensuring a most happy of holidays for all.</p>
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</div><p>Bonus image: Andreil in a two person holiday sweater. Neil has his hand on his hip and looks happy, and Andrew is frowning. He's got his hand up in a "hold up one moment here!" gesture.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Make sure to check out all the cool gifts in the AFTG Winter Exchange 2020, which runs from 12/13/-12/19</p>
<p>You can find me attempting <a href="https://mystrana.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Mystrana_">twitter!</a> :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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